System and Method of Collecting Video Content Information

ABSTRACT

Aggregated information is accessed on a computing device. The aggregated information includes video content information associated with video content and related end destination information. The aggregated information is further processed to render at least a portion of the aggregated information on a publically-accessible information medium. Thus, published content is generated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 61/229,851, filed 30 Jul. 2009, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to video systems, and moreparticularly to the gathering and reporting of video contentinformation.

BACKGROUND

In an information-based society, the rate at which information isreceived and disseminated may prove crucial with respect to the value ofthat information. The value of this information may be even more greatlyimpacted in sectors in which the decisions being made that areassociated with the data are highly dependent upon the freshness of suchinformation.

For example, advertisers have limited advertising budgets and choosewhich television/radio stations to advertise on based upon the ratingsof that particular television/radio station. Unfortunately, theinformation provided to the advertisers that is used to make suchadvertising determinations may be stale. For example, rating informationis typically presented in ratings books, which are often only compiledand released every three months. Accordingly, this may result indecisions being made based upon aged data that may have since changedconsiderably.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to a first implementation, a computer implemented methodincludes accessing, on a computing device, aggregated informationincluding video content information associated with video content andrelated end destination information. The method also includes processingthe aggregated information to render at least a portion of theaggregated information on a publically-accessible information medium,thus generating published content.

One or more of the following features may be included. The video contentinformation may include one or more of a video content identifier and aservice provider identifier. The end destination information may includean end destination location identifier associated with a receptioninstance of the video content. The end destination may include a timeidentifier associated with the reception instance of the video content.The end destination may additionally/alternatively include an experienceinformation associated with the reception instance of the video content.The experience information may include one or more of: informationrelating to a quality of the reception instance of the video content;and a user created comment concerning one or more of the video contentand the reception instance of the video content.

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations. The publishedcontent may include a graphical representation of a viewing areaencompassing the plurality of end destinations including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. Theviewing area may be chosen from one or more of, at least a portion of atown; at least a portion of a city; at least a portion of a county; atleast a portion of a state; at least a portion of a multi-state region;and at least a portion of a country.

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations. The publishedcontent may include a social networking space including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. Theindicia may include one or more of text-based indicia; graphic-basedindicia; audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia.

According to another implementation, a computer program product includesa computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon. Whenexecuted by a processor, the instruction cause the processor to performoperations including accessing, on a computing device, aggregatedinformation including video content information associated with videocontent and related end destination information. The instructions mayalso cause the processor to process the aggregated information to renderat least a portion of the aggregated information on apublically-accessible information medium, thus generating publishedcontent.

One or more of the following features may be included. The video contentinformation may include one or more of a video content identifier and aservice provider identifier. The end destination information may includeone or more of: a end destination location identifier associated with areception instance of the video content; a time identifier associatedwith the reception instance of the video content; and an experienceinformation associated with the reception instance of the video content.The experience information may include one or more of: informationrelating to a quality of the reception instance of the video content;and a user created comment concerning one or more of the video contentand the reception instance of the video content.

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations. The publishedcontent may include a graphical representation of a viewing areaencompassing the plurality of end destinations including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. Theviewing area may be chosen from one or more of, at least a portion of atown; at least a portion of a city; at least a portion of a county; atleast a portion of a state; at least a portion of a multi-state region;and at least a portion of a country.

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations. The publishedcontent may include a social networking space including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. Theindicia may include one or more of text-based indicia; graphic-basedindicia; audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia.

According to another implementation, a system includes a processor and amemory coupled with the processor. A first software module is executableby the processor and the memory. The first software module is configuredto access, on a computing device, aggregated information including videocontent information associated with video content and related enddestination information. A second software module is executable by theprocessor and the memory. The second software module is configured toprocess the aggregated information to render at least a portion of theaggregated information on a publically-accessible information medium,thus generating published content.

One or more of the following features may be included. The video contentinformation may include one or more of a video content identifier and aservice provider identifier. The end destination information may includeone or more of: a end destination location identifier associated with areception instance of the video content; a time identifier associatedwith the reception instance of the video content; and an experienceinformation associated with the reception instance of the video content.The experience information may include one or more of: informationrelating to a quality of the reception instance of the video content;and a user created comment concerning one or more of the video contentand the reception instance of the video content.

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations. The publishedcontent may include a graphical representation of a viewing areaencompassing the plurality of end destinations including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. Theviewing area may be chosen from one or more of, at least a portion of atown; at least a portion of a city; at least a portion of a county; atleast a portion of a state; at least a portion of a multi-state region;and at least a portion of a country.

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations. The publishedcontent may include a social networking space including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. Theindicia may include one or more of text-based indicia; graphic-basedindicia; audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 diagrammatically depicts a publishing process and an informationcollection process coupled to a distributed computing network.

FIG. 2. is a flowchart of a process executed by the informationcollection process of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process executed by the informationcollection process of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a web page including video content.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a web page including video content.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process executed by the publishing processof FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a web page including a geographicallyassociated graphic representation of aggregated information generated,at least in part, by the publishing process of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a web page generated, at least in part,by the publishing process of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a system, method or computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program productembodied in one or more computer-readable (i.e., computer-usable)medium(s) having computer-usable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer-readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer-readable medium include a computer-readablestorage medium, which may be, for example, but is not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, a device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. Exemplary computer readable storage medium mayinclude, but is not limited to, a portable computer diskette, a harddisk, a solid state disc drive, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of thisdocument, a computer-readable storage medium may be any medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program codefor carrying out operations of the present invention may also be writtenin conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on a single computing device, e.g., as astand-alone software package, and or may be at least partly executed onmultiple computing devices that may be remote to one another. In thelatter scenario, remote computing devices may be connected to oneanother through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN),or the connection may be made to one or more remote computing devices(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

The present invention is described below with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the invention. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown server information sharing process10 that may reside on and may be executed by server computer 12, whichmay be connected to network 14 (e.g., the Internet or a local areanetwork). Examples of server computer 12 may include, but are notlimited to: a personal computer, a server computer, a series of servercomputers, a mini computer, and a mainframe computer. Server computer 12may be a web server (or a series of servers) running a network operatingsystem, examples of which may include but are not limited to: Microsoft®Windows® XP Server; Novell® NetWare®; or Red Hat® Linux®, for example(Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of MicrosoftCorporation in the United States, other countries or both; Novell andNetWare are registered trademarks of Novell Corporation in the UnitedStates, other countries or both; Red Hat is a registered trademark ofRed Hat Corporation in the United States, other countries or both; andLinux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States,other countries or both), for example.

As will be discussed below in greater detail, server information sharingprocess 10 may receive, by a computing device, video content informationassociated with video content. Server information sharing process 10 mayalso receive, by the computing device, end destination informationassociated with a reception instance of the video content. Serverinformation sharing process 10 may selectively aggregate at least aportion of the video content information and at least a portion of theend destination information to generate aggregated information.

The instruction sets and subroutines of server information sharingprocess 10, which may include one or more software modules, and whichmay be stored on storage device 16 coupled to server computer 12, may beexecuted by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memorymodules (not shown) incorporated into server computer 12. Storage device16 may include but is not limited to: a hard disk drive; a solid statedrive, a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID array; a random accessmemory (RAM); and a read-only memory (ROM).

Server computer 12 may execute web server application 18, examples ofwhich may include but are not limited to: Microsoft IIS, NovellWebserver™, or Apache® Webserver, that allows for HTTP (i.e., HyperTextTransfer Protocol) access to server computer 12 via network 14(Webserver is a trademark of Novell Corporation in the United States,other countries, or both; and Apache is a registered trademark of ApacheSoftware Foundation in the United States, other countries, or both),hosting of one or more web pages and/or web sites, and the like. Network14 may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g., network20), examples of which may include but are not limited to: a local areanetwork; a wide area network; or an intranet, for example.

Server information collection process 10 (alone, or in combination withone or more of web server application 18 and aggregation application 22)may receive video content information messages and/or end destinationinformation messages from one or more client information collectionprocesses (e.g., client information collection processes 24, 26, 28).Aggregation application 22 may include a data storage and managementapplication, for example, but not limited to, a database applicationsuch as SQL Server™ MySQL™, and Oracle™ database applications.Additionally, server information collection process 10 (alone, or incombination with one or more of web server application 18 andaggregation application 22) may provide information based upon, at leastin part, the video content information and/or the end destinationinformation, e.g., via a web page or collection of web pages. Serverinformation collection process 10 may be a standalone application.Additionally/alternatively, server information collection process 10 mayinteract with web server application 18 and/or may be incorporated intoweb server application 18 as a module or component of web serverapplication.

The instruction sets and subroutines of client information collectionprocesses 24, 26, 28, (which may include one or more software modules)which may be stored on storage devices 30, 32, 34 (respectively) coupledto computing devices 36, 38, 40/42 (respectively), may be executed byone or more processors (not shown) and one or more memory modules (notshown) incorporated into computing devices 36, 38, 40/42 (respectively).Storage devices 30, 32, 34 may include but are not limited to: hard diskdrives; solid state drives, tape drives; optical drives; RAID arrays;random access memories (RAM); read-only memories (ROM), compact flash(CF) storage devices, secure digital (SD) storage devices, and a memorystick storage devices. Computing devices 36, 38, 40/42 may include, beassociated with, and/or incorporated into one or more video deliverydevices. Examples of computing devices 36, 38, 40/42 may include, butare not limited to, personal computer 36, mobile media device 38 (whichmay include, but is not limited to, a portable media player, multi-mediacapable cellular telephone, a portable video game device, and the like),and television 40 and/or television set-top box 42. Computing devices36, 38, 40/42 may be capable of being connected to a data network (e.g.,network 14, network 20).

Using computing devices 36, 38, 40/42 (and/or a video delivery deviceassociated with computing devices 36, 38, 40/42) users 44, 46, 48consume video content. For example, using personal computer 36, user 44may consume video content in the form of video included on a web page(e.g., embedded streaming video, webcasts, podcasts, and the like),video content stored on storage device 30, internet protocol television,internet based video on demand (e.g., Hulu™), or the like. Similarly,using mobile media device 38, user 46 may consume video content includedon a web page, video content stored on storage device 30, internet basedvideo on demand, or the like. User 48, via television 40 and/ortelevision set-top box 42, may consume television broadcast videocontent (e.g., airwave broadcast delivery, cable based delivery,satellite based delivery, or the like), video on demand video content,and the like. It will be appreciated that various additional/alternativevideo content may be consumed via the exemplary devices and/or via othervideo delivery devices that will be appreciated by those having skill inthe art.

The various computing devices may be capable of being directly orindirectly coupled to network 14 (or network 20). For example, personalcomputer 36 is shown directly coupled to network 14 via a hardwirednetwork connection. Similarly, a personal computer (such as a laptopcomputer) may be wirelessly coupled to network 14 (or network 20) via awireless communication channel established between the laptop computerand a wireless access point (i.e., WAP), which may be coupled to network14. The WAP may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g,Wi-Fi, and/or Bluetooth device that is capable of establishing thewireless communication channel between the laptop computer and the WAP.Mobile media device 38 is shown wirelessly coupled to network 14 viawireless communication channel 50 established between mobile mediadevice 38 and cellular network/bridge 52, which is shown directlycoupled to network 14.

As is known in the art, all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may useEthernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collisionavoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11xspecifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation orcomplementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example. As isknown in the art, Bluetooth is a telecommunications industryspecification that allows e.g., mobile phones, computers, and personaldigital assistants to be interconnected using a short-range wirelessconnection.

Computing devices 36, 38, 40/42 may each execute an operating system,examples of which may include but are not limited to Microsoft Windows,Microsoft Windows CE®, Red Hat Linux, etc., or a custom operating system(Windows CE is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in theUnited States, other countries, or both).

Referring also to FIGS. 2 and 3, server information collection process10 may generally receive 100 video content information associated withvideo content. Additionally server information collection process 10 mayreceive 102 end destination information associated with a receptioninstance of the video content. Further, server information collectionprocess 10 may selectively aggregate 104 at least a portion of the videocontent information and at least a portion of the end destinationinformation.

For example, user 48 may consume video content by watch a televisionbroadcast program (e.g., an episode of the television program “30 Rock”)via television 40 and/or set-top box 42. The television broadcastprogram may be provided to television 40/set-top box 42 via a cabletransmission provided by Comcast Corporation. The television broadcastprogram may be provided directly to television 40 and/or to television40 via set-top box 42, thereby allowing user 48 to watch the episode of“30 Rock.” When user 48 selects the program “30 Rock,” (e.g., byselecting the television channel currently airing “30 Rock”), clientinformation collection process 28 may detect 150 a video receptioninstance.

The video reception instance may include, for example, user 48 selectingand actively viewing (e.g., displaying on television 40) the episode of“30 Rock.” However, according to system and/or user preferences (e.g.,which may be determined by client information collection process 28and/or set by user 48, e.g., via graphical user interface displayed viatelevision 40) a reception instance may also include, for example,reception of the video content via the cable broadcast transmission andrecording to the video content, e.g., by a digital video recorderincorporated into set-top box 42, and/or associated with television 40,without user 48 actively viewing (e.g., displaying on television 40) thevideo content. Accordingly, the video reception instance may generallyinclude the reception of the video content (e.g., the episode of “30Rock) by a particular video delivery device (e.g., by television40/set-top box 42).

Further, assume that user 48 views a live broadcast of the episode of“30 Rock” while simultaneously recording the episode of “30 Rock” (e.g.,via a digital video recorder, or the like) being viewed via the livebroadcast. User 48's viewing of the live broadcast of the episode of “30Rock” may be a first reception instance. User 48 may, e.g., at a latertime, view the recording of the episode of “30 Rock” (e.g., via thedigital video recorder). The subsequent viewing of the recording of theepisode of “30 Rock” may be a second reception instance. Similarly, user48 may view a live broadcast of a re-run of the same episode of “30rock.” The viewing of the re-run of the episode of “30 Rock” may be athird reception instance.

While the video content of the foregoing example may include atelevision program (e.g., and episode of “30 Rock”) delivered via acable broadcast network (e.g., provided by Comcast Corporation), asdiscussed previously other video content is also contemplated. Forexample, the video content may include, but is not limited to, atelevision broad cast, video on a web page, video on demand products(e.g., provided by a cable service provider, and internet video ondemand service, or the like), a video conference, or other videocontent.

Upon client information collection process 28 detecting 150 a receptioninstance of video content, client information collection process 28 maygenerate 152 one or more messages. Client information collection process28 may generate 152 the one or more messages automatically upondetection 150 of the reception instance. Additionally/alternatively,upon detecting 150 the video reception instance, client informationcollection process 28 may generate 152 the one or more messages inresponse to a user input. For example, a remote control deviceassociated with television 40 and/or set-top box 42 may include a button(e.g., a “send information” button) for generating the one or moremessages. Upon user 48 pressing the button, client informationcollection process 28 may receive a signal (e.g., via television 40and/or set-top box 42) causing client information collection process 28to generate 152 the one or more messages.

In various other embodiments, the user may similarly provide an inputcausing the client information collection process to generate 152 one ormore messages. For example, and referring to FIG. 4, user 44 may view avideo on a web page (e.g., web page 200). A graphical user interfaceassociated with video display 202 may include “send info” button 204.User 44 may select, via onscreen pointer 206 (which may be controlled bya pointing device such as a mouse; not shown), send info button 204.Selecting send info button 204 may result in client information process24 generating 152 one or more messages.

Generating 152 the one or more messages may include generating 154 oneor more video content messages, including video content information.Further, generating 152 the one or more messages may include generating156 one or more end destination messages including end destinationinformation associated with a reception instance. While the foregoingdescribes generating one or more video content messages including videocontent information and generating one or more end destination messagesincluding end destination information associated with a receptioninstance, it should be appreciated that generating 152 the one or moremessages may include generating a single message including both videocontent information and end destination information associated with areception instance.

Generally, video content information may include information that may beintrinsic to the particular piece of video content. As such, videocontent information may include, for example, the identification of thevideo content, a service provider identifier associated with theparticular transmission of the particular piece of video content.Continuing with the above stated example, assume that user 48 iswatching the second episode of the fourth season of “30 Rock,” which isairing on Oct. 22, 2009, on NBC channel 7, broadcast by Comcast inMassachusetts. Accordingly, generating 154 one or more video contentinformation messages may include generating a message including one ormore of an identifier of the particular piece of video content (e.g.,the second episode of the fourth season of “30 Rock” as aired on Oct.22, 2009) and a service provider identifier (e.g., channel 7, broadcastby Comcast in Massachusetts). Additional/alternative information aboutthe particular piece of content may also be included. In the case of,e.g., video one a web site, video content information may include, forexample, a video identifier, the web site from which the video isviewed, an identity of the internet service provider through which theweb page including the video content is accessed, etc.

Generally, end destination information associated with the receptioninstance may include information that may depend upon the consumption ofthe video content. For example, end destination information associatedwith the reception instance may include a geographic location of thevideo delivery device (e.g., which may include and/or be associated withthe computing device executing the client information collectionprocess). The geographic location of the video delivery device may bedetermined based upon, at least in part, one or more of: a user input(e.g., an initial set-up of the client information collection processmay request and receive a user input of a location such as an address),a detected location (e.g., based upon an associated GPS receiver,cellular telephone broadcast tower triangulation, Wi-Fi access pointlocation, or the like), and IP address of a network connection (e.g.,via which the computing device may be coupled to network 14 or network20), or the like. Additionally, the end destination informationassociated with the reception instance may include a start time and astop time of the reception instance (e.g., start and stop time ofviewing of the video content and/or recording of the video content), atime at which the client information collection process generates 152the message, and indicator of whether the video content is viewed at atime of broadcast or is viewed at a later time (e.g., a recording of thebroadcast if viewed), and the like.

Additionally, the end destination information associated with thereception instance may include experience information. Experienceinformation may include information regarding a quality of the receptioninstance of the video content (e.g., poor/high quality video,disruptions due to latency and lost packets, etc.) and/or informationincluding user created comments relating to the video content and/or thereception instance of the video content. Information regarding thequality of the reception instance of the video content may be generatedby the client information collection process based upon detected lostpackets, detected latency, and the like. Additionally/alternatively, theclient information collection process may allow, and/or prompt, a userto enter a subjective evaluation of the reception instance of the videocontent. Additionally/alternatively the client information collectionprocess may allow a user to generate comments relating to the videocontent itself and/or relating to the reception instance of the videocontent.

For example, and referring also to FIG. 5, client information collectionprocess 24 may (alone or in combination with another application, suchas a web browser) generate information dialog box 208. While informationdialog box 208 is shown including three options (namely, “Excellent,”“Average,” and “Poor”) which may be selected by user 44 (e.g., using onscreen pointer 206 controlled by a pointing device) to indicate user44's subjective opinion of the quality of the reception instance of thevideo content, this should not be construed as a limitation of thepresent disclosure, and the number and nature of options may varyaccording to design criteria and user need. Additionally, informationdialog box 208 may include comment block 204. User 44 may input comments(e.g., using a keyboard or other input device, not shown) in commentblock 204, relating to the video content (e.g., “this video ishysterical”) and/or the reception instance of the video content (e.g.,“the video and sound are really out of sync”). Client informationcollection process 24 may include at least a portion of the experienceinformation (e.g., user 44's video quality selection and user 44'scomments) in the one or more generated 152 messages.

Continuing with the above-stated example, user 48 may be viewing a livebroadcast of the second episode of the fourth season of “30 Rock” at9:30 pm on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 via television 40 and/or set-top box42. Client information collection process 28 may generate 156 one ormore end destination information messages associated with the receptioninstance. The generated 156 end destination message may include thegeographic location of television 40 and/or set-top box 42 (e.g., 13Storybook Ln., Boston, Mass., based upon an address input), a start timeof the video content (e.g., 9:30 pm EST, on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009).Additionally, the end destination information associated with thereception instance may include experience information. For example,client information collection process 28 may allow (e.g., via anonscreen display) user 48 to input information concerning the videoquality of the reception (e.g., using a remote control device associatedwith television 40 and/or set-top box 42 and/or an onscreen graphicaluser interface). For example, assume that while watching the episode of“30 Rock” user 48 notices that the video is not properly synchronizedwith the audio at several points in the episode. Via an onscreengraphical user interface and using the remote control, user 48 mayprovide an input (e.g., by selecting from a menu provided via thegraphical user interface) indicating that there were some problems withthe quality of the video content. Further, user 48 may provide thecomment (e.g., again via an onscreen graphical user interface and usingthe remote control) that the episode is “the funniest episode yet.” Thegenerated 156 end destination message may include the experienceinformation input by user 48.

Upon generating 152 the one or more messages, client informationcollection process 28 may transmit 158 the one or more messages, e.g.,to server information collection process 10. Video content informationand end destination information may be transmitted 158 as a singlemessage and/or may include one or more discrete messages (e.g., one ormore messages for video content information and one or more messages forend destination information, or separate messages for each component,etc.).

The one or more generated 152 messages may be transmitted to serverinformation collection process 10 and/or to web server application 18.The one or more generated messages may include, for example, and HTTPmessage, e.g., which may be received by web server application 18 and/orserver information collection process 10. Various addition and/oralternative message types and/or message formats may be suitablyutilized.

As discussed above, and with particular reference to FIG. 2, serverinformation collection process 10 may generally receive 100 videocontent information associated with video content. Additionally serverinformation collection process 10 may receive 102 end destinationinformation associated with a reception instance of the video content.Further, server information collection process 10 may selectivelyaggregate 104 at least a portion of the video content information and atleast a portion of the end destination information.

Receiving the video content information and receiving the enddestination information may include receiving one or more of the videocontent information and the end destination information from a computingdevice associated with the reception instance of the video content. Asdiscussed above, a computing device (e.g., which may be included in,and/or associated with, a video delivery device such as personalcomputer 36, mobile media device 38, television 40 and/or televisionset-top box 42) may execute a client information collection process(e.g., client information collection process 24, 26, 28), which maytransmit 158 one or more messages including video content informationand/or end destination information associated with a reception instance,either automatically and/or in response to a user input.

The video content information may include one or more of an identity ofthe video content and a service provider identifier associated with atransmission of the video content. Continuing with the above-example,server information collection process 10 (alone and/or in conjunctionwith web server application 18) may receive 100 video contentinformation including video content identification (e.g., the secondepisode of the fourth season of “30 Rock” that aired at 9:30 pm onThursday, Oct. 22, 2009). Additionally server information collectionprocess 10 may receive 100 video content information including a serviceprovider identifier associated with a transmission of the video content(e.g., Comcast in Massachusetts). Additional video content informationmay also be included, such as the channel on which the video contentaired (e.g., channel 7), and the like. Additionally, at least a portionof the video content information may be determined by server informationcollection process 10 (alone and/or in combination with one or moreadditional applications, e.g., web server application 18). For example,if the episode number was not included in the received 100 video contentinformation, server information collection process 10 may determine theepisode number, e.g., based upon a television schedule look-up, or thelike.

The end destination information received 102 by server informationcollection process 10 may include one or more of a location of an enddestination associated with the reception instance of the video content,a time associated with the reception instance of the video content, andexperience information associated with the reception instance of thevideo content. For example, and still continuing with the above example,server information collection process 10 may receive end destinationinformation including and end destination for consumption of the videocontent, namely the geographic location of television 40 and/or set-topbox 42 (i.e., 13 Storybook Ln., Boston, Mass.). Additionally, serverinformation collection process 10 may receive a time of 9:30 pm ESTassociated with the reception instance of user 48 viewing the liveairing the of the episode of “30 Rock.”

Server information collection process 10 may also receive 102 experienceinformation associated with the reception instance of the video content.The experience information may include information relating to a qualityof the reception instance of the video content. For example, in theabove-example, user 48 found that at several point the video and audiowere poorly synchronized. Accordingly, user 48 provided an inputindicating that there were some problems with the quality of the videocontent. Server information collection process 10 may receive 102experience information associated with the reception instance of theepisode of “30 Rock” indicating that there were some problems with thequality of the video.

The experience information received by server information collectionprocess 10 may include a user created comment relating to one or more ofthe video content and the reception instance of the video content. Stillcontinuing with the above stated example, server information collectionprocess 10 may receive 102 end destination information including thecomment “the funniest episode yet.”

Server information collection process 10 (alone, and/or in conjunctionwith one or more of web server application 18 and aggregationapplication 22) may also selectively aggregate 104 at least a portion ofthe video content information and at least a portion of the enddestination information to generate 106 aggregated information.Selectively aggregating 104 at least a portion of the video contentinformation and at least a portion of the end destination informationmay include storing at least a portion of the video content informationand at least a portion of the end destination information in a database(e.g., which may include parsing the information into predeterminedfields). Information received 100, 102 from many users (e.g., users 44,46, 48) may be commonly aggregated relative to a single video contentand/or relative to a plurality of video content.

Continuing with the foregoing description, and referring also to FIG. 6,publishing process 54 may reside on and may be executed by servercomputer 12 (e.g., the instruction sets and subroutines of publishingprocess 54, which may include one or more software modules, and whichmay be stored on storage device 16 coupled to server computer 12).Publishing process 54 may include a standalone application, and/or maybe a module, component, or the like, of one or more of serverinformation collection process 10, web server application 18, and/oraggregation application 22.

Publishing process 54 may access 250, on a computing device, aggregatedinformation including video content information associated with videocontent and related end destination information. Publishing process 54may further process 252 the aggregated information to render 254 atleast a portion of the aggregated information on a publically-accessibleinformation medium, thus generating 256 published content.

Publishing process 54 (alone or in combination with one or more ofserver information collection process 10 and aggregation application 22)may access 250 aggregated data. As discussed above, the aggregated datamay be generated, at least in part, by server information collectionprocess 10 (e.g., based upon, at least in part, the received 100 videocontent information and the received 102 end destination information).As also discussed above, the video content information (e.g., a portionof which may be included in the accessed 250 aggregated information) mayinclude one or more of a video content identifier and a service provideridentifier. Continuing with the above-stated example, the video contentinformation may identify the video content as the second episode of thefourth season of “30 Rock” airing on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. Similarly,the video content information may identify the service provider asComcast in Massachusetts. Additional information, such as the channel(e.g., channel 7) on which the video content was viewed may also beincluded.

The end destination information may include an end destination locationidentifier associated with a reception instance of the video content. Asdiscussed above, the end destination location identifier associated witha reception instance of the video content may include the geographiclocation of the video delivery device, via which a user (e.g., user 48)may consume the video content (e.g., 13 Storybook Ln., Boston, Mass. inthe above example). As discussed, the location identifier may be basedupon an user input location, a detected location (e.g., based upon a GPSreceiver associated with the video delivery device, etc.), or the like.

The end destination information may include a time identifier associatedwith the reception instance of the video content. For example, the timeidentifier may include a start time of the reception instance (e.g., atime at which a user begins viewing the video content, such as 9:30 pmin the above-example in which the video content is an episode of “30Rock”). Additionally/alternatively, the time identifier may include astop time of reception instance. Further, the time identifier mayinclude a time at which a message including end destination informationis transmitted (e.g., by a client information collection process).Additional time identifiers may also be included (e.g., representing atime of a commercial or other time-wise attribute associated with thevideo content and/or the reception instance of the video content).

The end destination may additionally/alternatively include an experienceinformation associated with the reception instance of the video content.The experience information may include information relating to a qualityof the reception instance of the video content. For example, theinformation relating to a quality of the reception instance may begenerated by a client information collection process (e.g., clientinformation collection process 24, 26, 28) based upon, at least in part,detected dropped frames, detected latency, or the like. Additionally,the information relating to a quality of the reception instance may begenerated based upon, at least in part, a user input, e.g., in responseto a user selecting quality identifier via a graphical user interface,or the like.

Further, the experience information associated with the receptioninstance may include a user created comment concerning one or more ofthe video content and the reception instance of the video content. Forexample, a user may input, e.g., via a client information collectionprocess (e.g., client information collection process 24, 26, 28) one ormore user created comments about the video content (e.g., user 48 mayinput the comment “the funniest episode yet,” in the above-example).Additionally/alternatively, the experience information associated withthe reception instance may include a user created comment concerning thereception instance (e.g., the user may input a comment such as “wow thevideo is really out of sync with the audio”). The experience informationmay include one user created comment and/or may include multiple usercreated comments (e.g., which may be created by the user at varioustimes during the reception instance).

The aggregated information may concern a plurality of viewers viewingthe video content at a plurality of end destinations (e.g., which mayinclude a video delivery device that may include and/or be associatedwith a computing device executing a client information collectionprocess). For example, each of users 44, 46, 48 may watch the same videocontent (e.g., the above exemplary episode of “30 Rock”) from respectivelocations and/or using respective video delivery devices (e.g., personalcomputer 36, mobile media device 38, and television 40/set-top box 42).Each viewing of the episode from the respective video delivery devicesmay constitute a separate reception instance.

The aggregated information may include, at least in part, enddestination information associated with each reception instance. Furtherthe end destination information associated with each reception instancemay be related, e.g., based upon common video content information. Forexample, while the end destination information associated with eachrespective reception instance may be different (e.g., each videodelivery device may have a different geographic location, experiencedifferent quality, different user created comments), the end destinationinformation of each respective reception instance may be related and/orassociated based upon at least partially common video contentinformation (each the various end destination information may allpertain to the same episode of “30 Rock”).

Publishing process 54 may render 254 the aggregated information togenerate 256 published content. The published content may include agraphical representation of a viewing area encompassing the plurality ofend destinations including indicia indicative of at least a portion ofthe end destination information. The viewing area may be chosen from oneor more of, at least a portion of a town; at least a portion of a city;at least a portion of a county; at least a portion of a state; at leasta portion of a multi-state region; and at least a portion of a country.

For example, publishing process 54 (alone, and/or in conjunction withone or more of server information collection process 10, web serverapplication and aggregation application 22) may generate 256 publishedcontent by posting it on one or more web pages. The publishedinformation may, for example, provide a real-time, near real-time, orhistoric reporting of user video experiences (e.g., including at least aportion of end destination information associated with the plurality ofend destinations). The reporting of user video experiences may includeinformation such as, how many people are watching a specific televisionshown (e.g., which may be a piece of video content), the top televisionshows being watched at a given time (e.g., at the time the one or moreweb pages including the aggregated data are accessed, and/or at a giventime in the past). Similarly, the published aggregated information mayindicate the number of users experiencing problems with a given piece ofvideo content, a given service provider, etc. Further, the publishedaggregated information may me configured to provide the aggregatedinformation in a geographically relevant manner. For example,information such as how many people are watching a specific show may bebroken up by geographic regions. Similarly, information pertaining tothe number of people experiencing problems video problems across onespecific piece of video content, across multiple pieces of videocontent, and/or as between multiple service providers may be reported bygeographic region.

Generating 256 published content may include generating 256 ageographically associated graphic representation of at least a portionof the aggregated information. For example, and referring also to FIG.7, the percentage of users watching the episode of “30 Rock”experiencing at least some problem with video may be presented in ageographically associated graphic representation in web page 300, whichmay be accessed via a web browser. In the example of FIG. 7, the viewingarea depicted is the state of Massachusetts. However, as describedabove, different viewing areas may be selected (e.g., based on agraphical user interface associated with web page 300; not shown),allowing different viewing areas to be graphically represented.

As discussed above, the aggregated information may concern a pluralityof viewers viewing the video content at a plurality of end destinations.The published content may include a social networking space includingindicia indicative of at least a portion of the end destinationinformation. The indicia may include one or more of text-based indicia;graphic-based indicia; audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia. Forexample, in FIG. 7, web page 300 may include a web page of a socialnetworking web site. The social networking web site including web page300 may be accessible by users (e.g., based upon membership criteria,open access to all users, or other common model).

The aggregated information (e.g., including at least a portion of theend destination information and the video content information associatedwith a plurality of end destinations) may be leveraged to providevarious social networking scenarios, information reportingpossibilities, as well as entertainment, etc. For example, viewers oftelevision programs may create user created comments concerning thetelevision program and/or the video issues associated with thetelevision program, or the like. Other views of the television program(as well as people not viewing the television program) may access thesocial networking web site. The social networking web site may, forexample, allow users to review information pertaining to specifictelevision programs to review comments that viewers are making about thetelevision program, to acquire information about video issues thatviewers may be having while watching the television program, to acquireinformation about how many people are watching the television program,and the like. Similarly, and as shown in connection with FIG. 7, usersmay access the social networking site to acquire information about videoissues that viewers may be experiencing in geographic areas, based onservice provider, etc.

In one example, the aggregated information may be utilized to allowusers to determine what people are watching at a given time (e.g., via asocial networking, or other, web site). For example, as discussed above,the aggregated information may include a geographic location associatedwith each of a plurality of reception instances. Similarly, theaggregated information may include a video content identifier. Further,the aggregated information may include video content information and enddestination information relating to a plurality of video content. As thevarious video content information and end destination information may bereceived 100, 102 and aggregated in real-time corresponding to receptioninstances of video content (e.g., as viewers are watching programs),publishing process 54 may be capable of generating 256 real-timepublished content. Accordingly, publishing process 54 may access 250aggregated information relating to various video content being consumedat any given point in time, and may be capable of providing time-wiseand location-wise relevance to the aggregated information.

Referring to FIG. 8, a web page may include published informationgenerated 256, at least in part, by publishing process 54. The generated256 published content may be based upon, at least in part, search and/orfilter criteria provided by a user of web page 350. For example, webpage 350 may allow a user to define a desired location (e.g., byinputting a zip code and selecting a desired radius from a drop downmenu). Further, web page 350 may allow a user to specify a carrier(e.g., the user may only wish to see what Comcast customers arewatching). Upon a user selecting (e.g., via onscreen pointer 206) the“show now” button, publishing process 54 may access 250 aggregatedinformation and may process 252 the aggregated information (e.g., byapplying search/filter criteria to the aggregated information basedupon, at least in part, the user inputs into web page 350). Further,publishing process 54 may render 254 aggregated information on web page350 to generate 256 published content (e.g., generally depicted at 352).As shown, the published content may indicate the relative number ofpeople watching various television programs at the time of the searchand within the defined geographic location. It will be appreciated thatthe above example may be implemented in a variety of manners, and assuch the illustrated example should not be construed as a limitation ofthe present disclosure. Additionally, it will be appreciated thatvarious information may be obtained by users of a web site includingpublished content in a manner similar to the examples described above.

Accordingly, information collection process may provide real-time, nearreal-time, and/or historical reporting of video issues on channels,programs, service providers and the like in geographic regions, as wellas registering key view experiences based on one or more of location,channel, program, service provider or the like.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A computer implemented method comprising: accessing, on a computingdevice, aggregated information including video content informationassociated with video content and related end destination information;and processing the aggregated information to render at least a portionof the aggregated information on a publically-accessible informationmedium, thus generating published content.
 2. The computer implementedmethod of claim 1 wherein the video content information includes one ormore of a video content identifier and a service provider identifier. 3.The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein the end destinationinformation includes one or more of: a end destination locationidentifier associated with a reception instance of the video content; atime identifier associated with the reception instance of the videocontent; and an experience information associated with the receptioninstance of the video content.
 4. The computer implemented method ofclaim 3 wherein the experience information includes one or more of:information relating to a quality of the reception instance of the videocontent; and a user created comment concerning one or more of the videocontent and the reception instance of the video content.
 5. The computerimplemented method of claim 1 wherein the aggregated informationconcerns a plurality of viewers viewing the video content at a pluralityof end destinations, the published content including: a graphicalrepresentation of a viewing area encompassing the plurality of enddestinations including indicia indicative of at least a portion of theend destination information.
 6. The computer implemented method of claim5 wherein the viewing area is chosen from one or more of, at least aportion of a town; at least a portion of a city; at least a portion of acounty; at least a portion of a state; at least a portion of amulti-state region; and at least a portion of a country.
 7. The computerimplemented method of claim 1 wherein the aggregated informationconcerns a plurality of viewers viewing the video content at a pluralityof end destinations, the published content including: a socialnetworking space including indicia indicative of at least a portion ofthe end destination information.
 8. The computer implemented method ofclaim 7 wherein the indicia includes one or more of text-based indicia;graphic-based indicia; audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia. 9.A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor causethe processor to perform operations comprising: accessing, on acomputing device, aggregated information including video contentinformation associated with video content and related end destinationinformation; and processing the aggregated information to render atleast a portion of the aggregated information on a publically-accessibleinformation medium, thus generating published content.
 10. The computerprogram product of claim 9 wherein the video content informationincludes one or more of a video content identifier and a serviceprovider identifier.
 11. The computer program product of claim 9 whereinthe end destination information includes one or more of: a enddestination location identifier associated with a reception instance ofthe video content; a time identifier associated with the receptioninstance of the video content; and an experience information associatedwith the reception instance of the video content.
 12. The computerprogram product of claim 11 wherein the experience information includesone or more of: information relating to a quality of the receptioninstance of the video content; and a user created comment concerning oneor more of the video content and the reception instance of the videocontent.
 13. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein theaggregated information concerns a plurality of viewers viewing the videocontent at a plurality of end destinations, the published contentincluding: a graphical representation of a viewing area encompassing theplurality of end destinations including indicia indicative of at least aportion of the end destination information.
 14. The computer programproduct of claim 13 wherein the viewing area is chosen from one or moreof, at least a portion of a town; at least a portion of a city; at leasta portion of a county; at least a portion of a state; at least a portionof a multi-state region; and at least a portion of a country.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 9 wherein the aggregated informationconcerns a plurality of viewers viewing the video content at a pluralityof end destinations, the published content including: a socialnetworking space including indicia indicative of at least a portion ofthe end destination information.
 16. The computer program product ofclaim 15 wherein the indicia includes one or more of text-based indicia;graphic-based indicia; audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia. 17.A system comprising: a processor; a memory coupled with the processor; afirst software module executable by the processor and the memory, thefirst software module configured to access, on a computing device,aggregated information including video content information associatedwith video content and related end destination information; and a secondsoftware module executable by the processor and the memory, the secondsoftware module configured to process the aggregated information torender at least a portion of the aggregated information on apublically-accessible information medium, thus generating publishedcontent.
 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the video contentinformation includes one or more of a video content identifier and aservice provider identifier.
 19. The system of claim 17 wherein the enddestination information includes one or more of: a end destinationlocation identifier associated with a reception instance of the videocontent; a time identifier associated with the reception instance of thevideo content; and an experience information associated with thereception instance of the video content.
 20. The system of claim 19wherein the experience information includes one or more of: informationrelating to a quality of the reception instance of the video content;and a user created comment concerning one or more of the video contentand the reception instance of the video content.
 21. The system of claim17 wherein the aggregated information concerns a plurality of viewersviewing the video content at a plurality of end destinations, thepublished content including: a graphical representation of a viewingarea encompassing the plurality of end destinations including indiciaindicative of at least a portion of the end destination information. 22.The system of claim 21 wherein the viewing area is chosen from one ormore of, at least a portion of a town; at least a portion of a city; atleast a portion of a county; at least a portion of a state; at least aportion of a multi-state region; and at least a portion of a country.23. The system of claim 17 wherein the aggregated information concerns aplurality of viewers viewing the video content at a plurality of enddestinations, the published content including: a social networking spaceincluding indicia indicative of at least a portion of the enddestination information.
 24. The system of claim 23 wherein the indiciaincludes one or more of text-based indicia; graphic-based indicia;audio-based indicia; and video-based indicia.